The metabolic syndrome is characterized by an increased amount of adipose tissue inside the abdominal cavity (popularly called belly fatness), insulin resistance with increased risk of developing senile diabetes, i.e. diabetes type II (=NIDDM, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus), high levels of blood fats and high blood pressure. Parallel to this is an increased risk of coronary, apoplexy, sudden death and other arteriosclerotic conditions.
A hypothetical explanation to the metabolic syndrome could be an overproduction of cortisol, a stress hormone which causes an accumulation of fat inside the abdominal cavity, and insulin resistance. Theoretically this could, through secondary metabolic effects, explain the other disorders related to the metabolic syndrome.
In Metabolism, vol. 41, No 8, 1992, pages 882-886, it is shown that belly fat women have higher secretion of cortisol than xe2x80x9cevenly fatxe2x80x9d women. The same work describes the effects of acute mental stress on the production of cortisol. It was shown that belly fat women, at a given stress signal, produced more cortisol than xe2x80x98evenly fatxe2x80x99 women. This suggested, but did not prove, that there may be a relationship between stress and belly obesity. A dexamethasone inhibitor test was carried out with 1 mg dexamethasone and subsequent measurement of cortisol content in serum. No difference in inhibitory effect on the production of cortisol could be found between the groups of belly fat women and evenly fat women and standard values.
Cortisol analogues, e.g. dexamethasone, have for many years been used to track so called endogenous (often hereditary) depressions in humans. The mechanism behind the test is however so far unknown.
The object of the present invention is to find a diagnostic test by which individuals, running the risk of being affected by one or more of the symptoms and/or conditions characteristic to the above described metabolic syndrome, can be identified at an early stage. In the present invention this is accomplished by a diagnostic system, which as an active substance has cortisol agonists of a dose in an interval in which a difference in the inhibitory effect of the autonomous cortisol production between individuals with the metabolic syndrome or one or more of the related risk/conditions and normal values are obtained. Preferably the cortisol agonist is a synthetic cortisol analogues with a glucocorticoidal and/or mineral corticoidal effect, e.g. dexamethasone. The invention also concerns a diagnostic system for the purpose of diagnosing the metabolic syndrome, comprising a cortisol agonist of a dosage described above, and an agent for measuring the content of cortisol in saliva or serum.